Various sources of information are available for determining the location of an object. Such location information sources include Global Positioning System (GPS) receivers, radars, radio frequency identification (RFID) tags, and variety of other technologies that can be used to determine location information pertaining to an object, which might be moving or stationary. Such location information has been used to track vehicles, packages, people, etc. and to enable a variety of location aware applications including location aware toll systems, material handling and supply chain management systems, and the like. Thus far, such location aware applications have mostly involved computing devices specifically programmed to provide location-aware functionality in a useful but predetermined manner. For example, scanners have been used as sources of information to convey the locations of shipping containers as they progress through various stages en route to a destination, where the specific location of a given shipping container on a shipping dock or in a cargo hold can be accessed at any given time
Technological advancements in computing devices and information networks, in particular wireless networks, have enabled users of a variety of computing devices such as smart phones, personal digital assistants (PDAs), laptop computers, etc. to access and utilize information in more and more locations. For example, such advances now allow users to wirelessly check their email or to surf the Internet from anywhere that is covered by an appropriate data service. Some computing devices have become equipped with technologies that integrate various sources that provide information about the location of the devices. For example, known mobile devices have been equipped with GPS receivers, which enable the users to know where they are located at any given time.
As sources that offer location information become more useful in computing devices and within information networks, there is a need for a system and method that correlates events with location of objects and conveys information about such events to computing devices.